News Focus: Indonesia forms special team to deal with hacker Bjorka issue

An emergency response team will be established to deal with the hacker Bjorka issues and ensure that the electronic systems in each Indonesian ministry/institution are running well, without any disturbances.

 

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The issue of hacker Bjorka who has leaked several state data, including those on Indonesian officials, has made the country’s the government resort to setting up a special team to cope with the problem.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has instructed relevant institutions to immediately coordinate and investigate the alleged leak of several data belonging to public figures, including letters addressed to him.

The instruction was delivered by the president while chairing a meeting with a number of cabinet ministers at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Monday (Sept.12).

“The meeting discussed data circulated by persons including Bjorka, but after a temporary review, the data turned out to be general ones, not specific and not currently updated data,” Communications and Information Minister Johnny G Plate said in a press statement after the meeting.

Some of the data are old ones, the minister disclosed, adding that a cross-ministerial/institutional team from the National Cyber ​​and Crypto Agency (BSSN), the Communications and Information Ministry (Kemkominfo), the Indonesian National Police (Polri) and the Indonesian State Intelligence Agency (BIN) will coordinate to probe into the issue in depth.

Johnny said that the government will also form a team to carry out subsequent assessments in order to maintain the public trust.

The team will consist of various elements including the BSSN, the Kemkominfo, Polri), and BIN.

“There needs to be an emergency response team related to maintaining good governance in Indonesia to keep the public trust. So there will be an emergency response team from the BSSN, the Kemkominfo, the Polri, and the BIN to carry out subsequent assessments,” he said.

BSSN Head Hinsa Siburian said he was happy with the formation of a special team to deal with hacker Bjorka, called the Emergency Response Team.

The main purpose of establishing the emergency response team is to ensure that the electronic systems in each ministry/institution are running well, without any disturbances, said Hinsa at a press conference at the BSSN Office in Depok, West Java, on Tuesday (Sept.13).

Hinsa said that the emergency response team is similar to the Information Technology Security Assessment (ITSA) in the BSSN, which checks all electronic systems in the institutions.

For this reason, the BSSN cooperates with the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Polri to find out who exactly Bjorka is, the hacker who has leaked data on Indonesian people in recent days, Hinza said.

According to Hinsa, the BSSN continues to follow the phenomenon of the Bjorka issue, from one news to another and from one official to another along with the relevant authorities, especially the Criminal Investigation Agency, to obtain information about hackers.

Hinsa admitted that the cyber security system in Indonesia is still not strong as data security in Indonesia still has many vulnerabilities.

“We must not assume that we are strong, because we know there are many vulnerabilities. The government is of course also aware of it. We are all, the Indonesian people, aware of it,” Hinsa added.

This occurred because Indonesia has just entered the digital era, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, and it changed the paradigm that could pose risks, he said, adding that the BSSN is accelerating adaptation in adjusting to digitalization, especially regarding data security.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD stated that the description of Bjorka has been identified by the BIN and the Polri.

However, the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs has yet to announce who is behind Bjorka, Coordinating Minister Mahfud MD told a press conference on Wednesday, adding that his party already has the equipment to track who and where Bjorka is.

Mahfud also explained that the motive behind Bjorka’s hacking is harmless, and does not have the ability to break into a serious hack because it was only related to economic, political and buying and selling motives.

The senior minister stated that no state secrets have been leaked to date, and emphasized that only general data are currently being leaked.

The information was the result of a meeting between Coordinating Minister Mahfud MD and Head of BIN Budi Gunawan, Polri Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, Head of BSSN Hinsa Siburian and Minister of Communications and Information Johnny G Plate at the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, on Wednesday morning.

Reporting by Indonesia Window